I did a poll on Instagram last week...please go follow us if you don’t already @yumyum_bakery21. The poll was for Thanksgiving desserts. Pecan pie vs pumpkin pie, which did my followers want me to bake. It was close for a short time, but pumpkin pie won with 80% in favor. I was semi-hoping to bake a pecan pie, mostly because I have never ever made one. But I will put it on the back burner as there are no rules to how many pies a person can make ;).
I found a unique, or what I considered unique, pumpkin pie recipe. For this pie you actually add sugar topping and brûlée it like a creme brûlée. Now if you know me, you know I am a sucker for creme brûlée. I can’t even tell you why, but I love it. So of course I had to make it. This recipe is not too complicated; it definitely could be made ahead for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. The only thing I would change is how the sugar is brulee'd and when.
There’s not much to this pie. Pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin pie spice, salt and eggs. That’s all for the pie filling. For the brulee'd topping, all you need is granulated sugar. There is a whipped cream recipe with this pie. Also simple, also delicious. All you need for the whipped cream is heavy whipping cream, vanilla (the recipe calls for vanilla paste which I did not have, so I just used extract), powdered sugar, and bourbon (optional).
To start get your pie crust ready. This particular recipe gets fancy with the crust. I did not. Just slap it in the pie dish, and stick it in the freezer while you combine your ingredients. That’s what I do. Once you mix the pumpkin, pie spice and salt, the recipe says to put it in the microwave for 1 minute, stating it helps to decrease the "can" flavor from the pumpkin, and brings out the spices more. I don't know if thats true. So far I've only made this once, but I'm sure it would be worth it to make two at once, one microwaving and one without to test that theory. When it’s done in the microwave you add the sweetened condensed milk and the eggs. Once everything is combined, pour it in your chilled pie crust and bake it. 15 minutes at one heat and then lower the oven temperature and bake it longer. You want the middle of the pie to be jiggly when you remove it from the oven. Let it cool and then put it in the fridge for 2 hours.
For the sugar topping, this recipe has you melt the sugar in the oven first, cool it, then put it in a food processor to chop it to little pieces. I did follow the recipe for this; it’s not difficult to do, but I do not see the advantage to doing it this way. It seems like an extra step. When your pie is almost done in the fridge, you can make your whipped cream. Whip the heavy cream until it’s your desired consistency, add the rest of the ingredients and mix them in without over mixing. Now you’re ready for your pie.
Take that baby out of the fridge. Add your chopped pieces of sugar and either broil in oven, or use a torch to melt the sugar together. Make sure you don’t have a thick layer as it will make the pie difficult to cut (guilty here). Then top your slice with a generous dollop of whipped cream. Like I said, I'd change how the sugar is made. I'd probably just add granulated sugar and brûlée it as I do a creme brûlée, and I would do it for each piece so there is no worry when you slice the pie that it will be ruined.
Over all I enjoyed baking this, and eating it ;). I think it will make an appearance at my Thanksgiving dinner :). Link below.
http://www.bsweetdessertboutique.com/blog/2018/11/14/pumpkin-pie-brulee
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